He walked Down The Street
by Amy6
Summary: The story of Severus Snape and the 'death' of Peter Pettigrew. Please r/r!!!


He walked down the street, the man, unaware that anything had happened

He walked down the street, the man, unaware that anything had happened. While in his own little world, he bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going." He snarled, then he stopped. "Sirius, what are you doing here?"

The other man stopped and looked at him with dislike. Then his face softened and a tear sprung to the grown mans eyes.

"You haven't heard, have you." He whispered hoarsely.

"Heard what?" 

"James, Lily. They're gone." 

"What do you mean, gone?" the man snapped, an idea forming in his mind as what was to follow.

"They're dead. Gone. Harry's been sent to live with those relatives of his. Poor boy." Sirius continued his face paleing.

"Voldemort's work." The man said, cursing the name.

"Yes. Avada Kedarva." Sirius sniffed and scrubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"Oh, use a tissue Black." Severus scowled, secretly filling with sadness.

The two men stood in silence. Suddenly, Sirius looked behind him and asked Severus

"H-have you seen Peter Pettigrew around anywhere sometime?" He looked distinctly shifty.

"Yes, I saw him walking towards the town centre. Why?" Severus looked Sirius in the eye. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, nothing." Sirius replied hastily. Severus could see he was sweating. Could he? No. Despite hating him, Severus knew Sirius would never kill anyone. Would he? Not Pettigrew anyway. Stupid Pettigrew had been his friend at Hogwarts. Never in the same league as Sirius or his friend James.

"What do you want with that runt?"

"Oh, just to tell him… tell him about what happened." Sirius smiled unconvincingly. "Goodbye." And he hurried off in the opposite direction.

Severus watched him go and continued on his way.

10 minutes later, Severus was standing in a small café, talking to Anthony Warrall, a wizard who ran a small wizard only coffee shop. He had very long brown hair, which wasn't tied back. Severus winced as the hair swung over his cup of black coffee.

"Alright there Sev?" Anthony asked cheerfully.

"Yes, thank you Anthony." Severus said, uncomfortably. He swirled the coffee around in the cup.

"Hey, Sev,"

Severus flinched. He despised 'nick names.'

"Did you hear about You-Know-Who? They say he attacked the Potters. You remember the Potters don't you Sev?"

"How could I forget?" Severus muttered quietly.

"It's rumoured that Lily an' James were killed."

"They were." Severus said through gritted teeth.

"Really?" Anthony said, clearly impressed with Severus knowing any sort of gossip. He leant over to an old witch who was sitting in the corner. "Hey, Mavis!"

The witch looked up.

"Do you hear? Lily an' James were killed by You-Know-Who."

"Ooohhhh!" She marvelled, looking approvingly at Severus. "How'd you find that out?"

"Yeah, c'mon Sev! Where d'ya find that out?"

The two gossip hounds stared at Severus, making him feel very uncomfortable.

"Someone." He mumbled.

"Heavy." Anthony said. "I didn't know them that well at school but Lily…man…she was something. I mean, if James wasn't around I'd be..." his voice trailed off as Severus grabbed his collar and stared menacingly into the other man's brown eyes with his cold black ones.

"If you say another word about Lily, James or anything to anyone, I will personally make sure that you are thrown to the Dementors." He snarled, putting Anthony down slowly. Then, he threw some coins onto the table and walked to the door of the shop.

"Hey, Pettigrew, you come back here!" 

A small, tubby man ran past Severus, almost knocking him over.

"Watch it!" Severus yelled, turning in the direction of which the man ran. Another man ran after him, wand out in the middle of a muggle town centre. It was Sirius. Severus tried to grab his arm, but Sirius slipped away, still chasing after Pettigrew. Suddenly Severus knew what was going to happen. Sirius had always been James' best friend. He had envied him for that. Pettigrew must have…no…Pettigrew couldn't perform a simple switching spell. Or had he? There had been rumours among the once Slytherins and Death Eaters that Pettigrew had joined them. Severus shivered. Death Eater. That was a title he wanted to forget. Knowing he should do the right thing, he raced after Sirius.

"Lily and James Sirius, how could you?" Pettigrew cried.

"Stop acting Pettigrew, we know you betrayed us!"

"Lily and James and Harry! How could you!"

The voice was high and whining. Severus sped into the square where quite a crowd of muggles was gathering around them. Some young men were shouting

"Fight! Fight!" Anthony Warrall was pushing his way to the front.

"Sirius, Peter, lets take this inside."

But still the two men stood there arguing, Peter upset and Sirius quieter and subtle. Severus pushed his way to the front and tried to step in-between them, to stop them. He knew someone was going to get hurt. Despite his hatred for them, he didn't want the worst to come to the worst. Sirius roughly threw him aside behind some barrels and boxes. 

BANG!

The street literally exploded. A thick black smoke covered the area. As it lifted, Severus stood up and looked around. It was chaos. A water pipe had been burst, spewing water over the scene, giving the impression of a light drizzle. About 20 people were lying unconscious or dead, Anthony among them. Peter was no where to be seen. Sirius was sitting on the ground as if he had been blown back from the force, his face and robes black. He looked stunned. Severus walked over to him.

"What did you do?" he asked.

Sirius simply looked at him and began to laugh hysterically. A high, ecstatic laugh.

"What's so funny?" Severus shouted, taking Sirius by the shoulders and shaking him. Sirius continued to laugh.

"He did it. He betrayed us all." He said through laughter. It seemed as if Sirius had gone mad. 

Just at that moment, several ministry wizards appeared and erected a barrier over the area. One of them came over and restrained Sirius. Another recognized Severus and rushed over to him.

"Professor Snape! Are you OK?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Severus told him, brushing the dust of his black robes. He looked around. Some one had called the muggle police, he could hear the siren in the distance.

"What happened?" the young man asked, his face pale.

"Peter Pettigrew was, I presume, blown up by Sirius Black here." Severus said, nodding towards Sirius, who was still laughing insanely. "I'd better get going."

He didn't want to help. Not now. Not this. He walked off, his robes billowing behind him. As soon as he was in a quiet corner, he disapparated. 

The once proud house of the Potters was now nothing more than a huge pile of rubble. The village of Godric's Hollow looked strangely empty. You could see various objects around the wreckage. A teddy bear with one leg. A large, red book, singed was next to it. The remains of an armchair protruded from a heap of bricks. Severus had only once seen this house, when it had belonged to James' parents.

Something glinting however caught his eye. He walked over to it, ignoring the police banner telling him 'police line, do not cross.' He picked it up to discover it was a jewelry box. Opening it, it began to play a song. A slow melodic song, that sounded as if it should have come from a musical jewelry box.

It contained a few items of jewelry, a silver necklace, a beaded bracelet and another necklace, this one a gold locket. Opening it, a picture of Lily, James and their son Harry waved at him cheerfully, not knowing what had just happened. Tears sprung to his cold eyes. He wiped them away. He had never been friends with James or Lily. 

But he liked them. He admired then for their courage, bravery and friendship. Severus wished he had not gone to Slytherin, but to Gryffindor, where he would have been with them. Who'd have thought that the arrogant, loud, scheming, cursing, Severus Snape from Slytherin could ever be jealous of James Potter?

He pocketed the locket, promising to give it to Harry when Harry came to Hogwarts, to tell him about his parents, and to, he hated this bit, to protect him.

If Harry was killed, who knows what would happen to the world? 

The years rolled by. Students passed through Professor Snape's classes. He saw them start, he saw them leave. Many of the students turned to be fine witches and wizards, with good jobs, and true hearts.

One year, Severus was glancing down the list of the students who were to be admitted to Hogwarts the following September. Various names were thrown at him. Neville Longbottom, Gregory Crabbe, Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy, a name he wanted to forget.

Then, Harry Potter. He did a double take. Harry Potter, yes the name was still there. It had been almost 10 years since he had walked among the wreckage of that house. Harry must be 11 now, and about to begin his education in the magical arts. Severus thought of the locket hidden away in a locked box at the back of a draw. 

The sorting hat ceremony was a disaster for Professor Snape. As head of Slytherin, he glanced at the new Slytherins. He groaned. None of them looked particularly good. Squashed noses, broad shoulders, looks like a gorilla or small, pale and rat like.

Then he saw him. He almost choked on his drink. There he was Harry Potter. It was amazing how much he resembled James, but even from a distance, you could spot his mothers eyes.

The man was torn. Here was a reminder of how much he had lost. A friend he never had and the woman he loved from afar.


End file.
